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| Anyone know where I could get some more information? |
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just bought a shiva rea CD called Drops of Nectar - Yoga Relaxation for Rejuvenation & Healing. It's a double, the second one has a complete session of yoga nidra ( which is described as a "rarely taght guided shavasana for complete relation while awakening conciousness.") I orginally bought it because of the moon salutations on it & havn't gotten to CD 2 yet, but i'm I like her style & I'm looking forward to it.
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| http://www.scand-yoga.org/english/shop/uk_yn.html
This ones great I have it and it realy is good |
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yup! it is good-delicious, even! after three tries on different occasions, i've finally managed to go through the session of nidra without falling asleep before the end - it is a profoundly relaxing practice. I found myself at it's peak feeling detached from my body, yet very grounded- as if my bones and muscles were liquid, and my mind was a buoy. ( sounds kinda cheesy, but it's the closest i can come to describing it  Its focus is meditation through visualization. perfect for those with strong imaginations... try it! you'll like it. |
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| sirensong, based on your recommendation I just ordered the CD. Thanks. |
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|  enjoy! glad to contribute. |
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| p.s. there is a breif article on nidra in the october 04 yoga journal |
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| I'll look for it. Thanks! |
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| Yoga Nidra is considered almost a form of self-hypnosis. If you focus on an intention or something you want to happen, change, or let go of, then go into the 1/2 sleep/1/2 awake state, eventually it's felt that the changes are effected.
It's very big in the Anusara community right now.
Some excellent CDs with varying lengthed Nidras are Robin Carnes's from Willow Street Yoga. (You'd have to email them and ask for it since they don't have an online store.)
Betsey Downing on Garden of the Heart Yoga.com, (not sure about a store) and Rod Stryker on Pure Yoga.
I admit that I'd rather hand my $$$ over to an individual yogi than a huge online store, so for me it's worth emailing them to ask. Plus, their CDs are excellent. Smooth tones of voices, interesting suggestions, very calming rythm.
Yoga Nidra, translating as Yogic Sleep, is a very powerful energizer. 30 minutes of yoga nidra is like 4 hours of sleep. It's fantastic to cultivate in a busy life!
Christine |
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| very interesting! what you said about intention manifestation reminds me of what someone told me about how they use mudras in another forum. that aspect is not really discussed in the recording i have- i'm looking forward to seeing what else nidra has to offer!
so..is nidra incorporated into anusara trainings or classes, or is it just something folks are talking about and sharing within the community, but outside of classes? |
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| Both. Naturally, what's taught varies from studio to studio and comes from the "top" down. The owners of the studios I frequent have discovered the positive effects of yoga nidra to the point that both studios offer 2 classes (always full) a week. Other studios might be doing something different at the moment.
Yoga nidra is also taught differently, depending upon the experience of the teachers. Here, a little gentle asana is done to stretch the day's tension out of the body and to still the mind a bit. Remember, the point of Hatha yoga is to ready the mind for meditation, right? Then blankets are arranged to support the body in several different reclining manners. Usually the upper torso or head is a tiny bit elevated and always supported. If it's chilly, a blanket is used for warmth so someone can really relax. Then the guided meditation begins. It's very calming.
I have to tell you, that I personally would rather clean toilets. That's neither here nor there, actually, since it's just an element of my personality that I cannot sit still. Sure, the pat response is that then I must need to do more of it. Frankly, I've decided rather than fighting what seems to be an element of my personality is to accept this need for movement and work with it, rather than forcing myself through something I dread. Also a yogic principle, right? And castor oil or high colonic isn't something one needs to take just because someone else believes you ned it. So I try to do a yoga nidra or gentle yoga class once a month or so for practice (and torture) then I move on to my own meditation in motion. I tell you this because I don't want to give a false impression of myself actually being some kind of expert on yoga nidra. It's simply what I've experienced and seen in the studios. Fair?
C. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State |
I'm not totally sure what Nidra Yoga means. I think of Yoganidrasana, which is a pose
that I really enjoy sticking into the middle of a more involved sequence. But from what
I'm reading it sounds a lot like "guided visualization". That, for me, is a nerve-racking horror
that was tacked onto the end of one of the very few Kripalu style classes that I've taken.
Like Christine, my main response was to want to run away.
I don't mind meditative language during the closing or initial parts of a class, and I've had
a number of teachers who do that really well. It's especially useful in Pranayama classes.
But I don't enjoy being led through a series of strong verbal images that I'm supposed to
reflect on... "A lone bird floating over a barren landscape"..."A cross on a church"..."Neon
lights flashing through tattered curtains"..."Dirty hypodermic needles scattered beneath a cot"..
.... well, okay, I'm exaggerating...but that's how it made me feel. |
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| i guess some of the visualization "suggestions" can sound new agey enough to cause some squirming, but i just luvs the way i feel at the end of it! to me the practice of surrender whether you're entering a challenging asana or entering meditation has the same rewards. but that said, to each his own.
peace,
tasha
p.s. what is yoginidraasana? you and yogadancer spit sansrit back and forth so frequently it makes my head spin. |
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| I found self hypnosis tapes give me a similar feeling of relaxation as Yoga Nidra,techniques seem almost the same. |
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| If you practice yoga, it's a good idea to become familiar with the Sanskrit names of asana. There are traditional, supposedly 5000 year old names of asana, and then there are the American "hip" translations that every nit-wit in the world comes up with to make yoga "their own." (Yes, I'm typing that with a disgusted tone.) Anyway, even in India the asana names differe between the north and south. Case in point, what Bikram calls asana and what the Krishnamachyra or Yogananda line calls them. However, they're usually pretty similar. The Krishnamachyra line is most commonly found in the US, so those are the names you'll see most frequently. (Iyengar, Viniyoga, Ashtanga; their off-shoots of Power Yoga, mixted teachers calling their yoga "hatha", and Anusara, which is actually a different line.)
That said, look at the word Yoganidrasana. Break it up. The first for letters are y o g a, right? The next are n i d r a s a n a. You see nidra and asana, but without a double a in the middle, correct? Like French, if you have to vowels next to each other, you drop one. So you have Yoga Nidra Asana, or yoganidrasana.
If you'd like to see a picture of the pose, you can head over to my site on YogaDancer.com, where you can find pictures of many of the asana. I still have a ton more photos to upload, so the site is constantly changing.
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| What is the original question please? It says 'where I can find some information'. May I know what information the originator of this series is looking for?
Thanks.
neel kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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thanks (again) for all the great info, christine!
yup! I absolutely agree that learning the names is important, thus the question! what i was really looking for when i wrote the question was the picture or english version of the yoginidrasana. I'm familiar with some basic-level asana names,savasana, adho mukha savansana,dandasana trikonasana,uttanasana, etc.- i even know some roots- like supta=supine, pada=foot etc. but i'm still learning! and i bet i'm not alone I know its kind of a pain in the bum for those more "fluent" yogi's to slow down and throw in a description or translation for some asanas but it would be nice, if ever you feel inclined.
neel, i can't speak for the person who began this thread, but i think whatever info you feel like imparting would be wonderful.
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| Neel...I guess you missed the name of the thread you clicked on to get here .....
Sirensong,
I offered you a link to my site so you could look up the picture and translation of most asana ever mentioned here. I can tell you that I will most likely not bother to describe every asana we mention, unless someone is asking specific questions. I built that site for another message board to facilitate discussion and so no one had to reinvent the wheel. I'm afraid it will take a little initiative on your part, but imagine what you could learn?
Besides, it's really wonderful to take a moment to look at some of the amazing yogin in their full expression of an asana through strength and grace.
Enjoy your initiative.
Edited by YogaDancer 2004-09-28 11:44 AM
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fair enough!
p.s. one of the studios i go to studio is offering an anusara worshop this weekend & i'm there! i'm pretty excited..we'll see if yoga nidra is spoken of.... |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
 
| I'm coming in on this a little late but:
***I don't enjoy being led through a series of strong verbal images that I'm supposed to
reflect on... ***
I absolutely agree! I have had biofeedback while being "creatively visualised" and i can tell you that some of the airy-fairy stuff literally left me cold. The measurement scale just plummeted when the person described stuff that I didn't identify with. So with a room full of people you don't really know, why would anyone assume the lovely images you are crooning about are actually relaxing everyone? I stick by my pragmatic Iyengar teaching here - talk about how to relax each muscle, talk about warmth, softness, quiet etc. but watch those images. Your candle-lit haven may remind Susie in the corner about how her house burned down when she was ten! What makes you feel cozy and relaxed may be putting your poor students into spasms. |
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| interesting observation!
On another note, and probably far too much information, this extends to other areas of life!
The idea that candlelight, flowers, bubble baths, etc., are erotic is misplaced with a friend of mine. She says, 'Talk about boring!' What ... interests ... her are the roar of race car engines.
So there you have it. We can't apply generalizations and stereotypes with complete effectiveness anywhere. Not in yoga, not in human relationships, and not in Nidra.
C. |
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| Love all the info so far thank you all
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And an excellent and very useful site it is too Yogadancer. I love the way you show all the variations together in one place for a given pose. For a beginner like me, it's best that way as I have enough trouble working out which pose I'm after let alone which flavour of yoga
I agree with your reasoning about listing the poses according to their Sanskrit names, however it would be handy to be able to search for either Sanskrit or English on your index - just a thought for the future.
Regards,
Fee
YogaDancer - 2004-09-28 4:27 PM
I offered you a link to my site so you could look up the picture and translation of most asana ever mentioned here.
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| My swami takes us through yoga nidra at the end of each class. It's partly relaxation, partly breathing and usually incorporates us repeating our personal matras to ourselves in our heads over the 10 minutes or so we do it.
After the kind of 'robust' set of asanas he's taken us through, I find this a great way of recovering
Fee |
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| Thank you for the compliment, Orbelia. I'm glad you find it useful. That's its point!
Teach yourself how to use your search (find) function in your browser as I suggest in the FAQs and you will be able to locate anything you want -- as long as I actually have it listed, that is!
Christine |
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Nidra yoga
